Heathrow YTD losses narrow amid strong summer demand

Heathrow Airport upped its full-year passenger forecast on Thursday as it posted a narrowing of its year-to-date losses following strong demand for travel through the summer months.

The London airport now expects roughly 79.3m passengers to pass through its gates this year, up from earlier forecasts of between 70.0m and 78.0m and broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels.

Heathrow said it had benefited from an increased number of flights post pandemic, despite the well-documented cost-of-living squeeze.

"Our markets are displaying robust performance compared to 2019, with notable strengths observed in North and Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific," Heathrow said. "The Asia Pacific region has experienced a significant rebound in passenger numbers, especially given borders only reopened earlier in the year."

Heathrow posted an adjusted pre-tax loss of £19.0m for the nine months to 30 September, compared with a £442.0m loss a year earlier when it was forced to deal with elevated costs due to labour shortages and operational problems. Adjusted core profit for 2023 was expected to be £2.2bn, up from £1.68bn in 2022.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com